Issue 23

Copyright 2011 www.Propwise.sg. All Rights Reserved.

CONTENTS
p2
p6
Singapore Property News This Week
Recent Trends in the Singapore Property Market

FROM THE

EDITOR

Welcome to the 23th edition of the Singapore Property Weekly. Hope you like it! Mr. Propwise

p11 Resale Property Transactions (October 8 14) p13 Singapore Property Classifieds #13

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

Singapore Property This Week

Residential
EL Development launches DBSS project Trivelis with high indicative pricing 888-unit Trivelis, developed under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) at Clementi Ave 4, consists of three 40-storey towers with three-room to five-room flats, with more than 50 % being four-room flats. Prices of threeroom flats (646 sqft), four-room units (861 sqft to 883 sqft) and five-room flats (1,130 sqft) will range from $375,000 to $470,000, $530,000 to $650,000 and$658,000 to $770,000 respectively. This is higher than the price of resale flats, and rather close to executive condominium (EC) prices. This may be due to its location (proximity to MRT station and schools), its height, the lack of competitors in the area and the high demand in the HDB market. 99-year leasehold Yishun EC site draws $213.8m top bid. MCC Land (Singapore) offered a top bid of $213.78 million or $292.57psfppr for the 292,277.6 sqft site with a 730,693.9 sqft gross floor area (GFA) and a 2.5maximum permissible gross plot ratio at Yishun Avenue 7/ Canberra Drive, beating out seven other bids. Just 4% above the $281 psfpprfor The Canopy EC site located at Yishun Avenue 11, the bid was reasonable and within market expectations. Breakeven cost is estimated to be around $600 psf, similar to the prices for The Canopy.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

Commercial
JLLs study: Property investors turn their attention to the industrial sector Jones Lang LaSalle's study of URA Realis caveats data shows that investors with an under-$1.5 million budget have turned their attention to industrial sector. The private residential sector's share of caveats fell from 96.6% in Q2 2009 to 87.2% in Q3 2011 while the caveats of strata private industrial units, strata offices and strata retail increased from 2.2% to 8.8%, 0.4% to 1.4% and 0.8%to 2.6% respectively. The increase may be even larger if the size of the units is included in the data. This increase is due to government measures to cool the housing market as well as the higher yields for industrial property. In particular, the investors are drawn to smaller

units in industrial projects with affordable prices and promises of high yields. Two 999-year leasehold adjacent buildings at Phillip Street sold to Royal Group. Royal Grouphas bought two 999-year leaseholds adjacent office blocks at 1 and 3 Phillip Street for nearly $283 million with an average price about $2,350 psfbased on their total net lettable area of about 120,000 sq ft. 1 and 3 Phillip Street are a 16-storey building with 36,194 sqft net lettable area (NLA) and a19-storey office block with 82,160 sqft NLA respectively. The new corporate headquarters for Royal Group will move to the latter, moving out from the Royal Brothers Building, where Royal Groups 50% share of the total net lettable area of around 59,000 sqft was sold at a price of $3,050 psf.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

The two adjacent blocks at Phillip Street are likely to be redeveloped into a single project with a larger floor plate. In the market: Freehold 21-storey Robinson Point An expressions of interest (EOI) exercise is being conducted for the freehold 14-year old 21-storeyRobinson Point with a total net lettable area (NLA) of 133,214 sqft. Having been redeveloped to its maximum potential, it has a gross floor area of 169,250 sqft, a plot ratio of 11.2 on the 15,111 sqft land area. It is 95% occupied and has 57 car park lots on the third to fifth levels. The price is expected to range around of $306.4 million to $313.1 million. The asset could either remain in its present form or be strata-titled or converted to hotel use, subject to approvals from the

authorities. The EOI will close on Nov 18. Ex-Ogilvy Centre to become Sofitel Singapore in early 2013 The first Sofitel hotel in Singapore is set to open in early 2013 with 135 rooms and suites where the Ogilvy Centre used to be- a landmark conservation property opposite Lau Pa Sat. The existing four-storey conservation building will stay, with the rear part being redeveloped into a new five-storey extension. The room sizes will range from 258 to 1,507 sqft, with a 70:30 ratio of suites (including loft suites) to regular rooms with a blended average daily room rate of $300. Royal Group Holdings invested $130 million in the asset, including the $86 million it paid for the site and signed a 20-years management contract with Sofitel Luxury Hotels under the Accor Group.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23 50% of Robinson Land sold to an offshore fund The partnership between Buxani Group and offshore investors advised by Capital Management Group sold a half-stake in Robinson Land Pte Ltd to an offshore fund controlled by a few high net worth individuals , retaining the other half. It has only one asset under its name - 12-storey freehold Finexis Buildingat 108 Robinson Road. The sale was based on the Finexis Buildings latest valuation of $110 million, about $2,043 per square foot on its total strata area of 53,830 sq ft.It is more than 82%occupied and does not have any immediate redevelopment potential, its gross floor area of 64,766 sqfthaving exceeded the 11.2 maximum plot ratio for the site. The net yield based on the $110 million valuation is around 2.9% if the building is fully occupied, given the average monthly passing rental of $5.60 psf.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

Worrying Trends in the Singapore Property Market

By Mr. Propwise
Ive noticed some interesting and worrying trends in the Singapore property market that Id like to share with you, and also delve into what they mean for the property investor and own-stay home buyer. 1. HDB prices are rising faster than private property prices Last week the URA reported that the private residential price index grew 1.3% in the 3rd quarter of 2011. Contrast this with the HDBs Resale Price Index (RPI), which rose 3.8% from the previous quarter.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23 This increase in HDB prices is despite the 23,800 new units the HDB has pushed out in the first three quarters. The impact was not felt on prices but in the transaction volume for resale flats, which fell 10% to 5,903 units in the 3rd quarter from 6,581 units in the 2nd quarter. The HDB will launch another 4,200 BTO flats in November, bringing the total number of flats launched this year to 28,000. And dont forget that there is another 25,000 BTO flats to be launched next year. The puzzling thing for many is how the prices of HDB flats are still rising despite the large amount of supply being pushed out. A case in point is the 888-unit Trivelis in Clementi, which is being developed under the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS). Prices of the 646 sqft three-room flat units ($375,000 to $470,000), 861-883 sqft four-room flat units ($530,000 to $650,000) and 1,130 sqft fiveroom flats ($658,000 to $770,000) are more expensive than the surrounding resale flat prices! 2. Private home buyers are in a cautious mood, especially in the high end segment The PPIs 1.3% increase is the 8th consecutive quarter of slowing growth, which many market observers attribute to both demand (growing uncertainty in global economic situation) and supply (government ramping up supply of public housing) factors. Regardless of the cause, buyers are becoming increasingly cautious, especially in the high end segment. The URA reported a price increase in non-landed properties in the Core Central Region (CCR) of just 0.7%, and a fall in transaction volume of 61% on a quarter-onquarter basis.
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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23 Given the upcoming launches in the 4th quarter, many analysts expect a fall in the takeup rate even if prices remain stable. So its clear that the market is cooling down. The million dollar question is will prices fall? 3. Developers are turning cautious too In the latest survey conducted by the National University of Singapore and the Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore (READAS), the Current Sentiment Index for property developers dropped from 4.6 in the 2nd quarter to 3.6 in the 3rd quarter, while the Future Sentiment Index dropped from 4.4 in the 2nd quarter to 3.4 in the 3rd quarter. This dragged the Composite Sentiment Index down from 4.5 to 3.5 respectively. Developers also turned cautious on the office segment as shown by the future net balance (the difference between respondents who believe the office segment will do better and those who think it will do worse), which staged a dramatic turnaround from +42% in the 2nd quarter to -57% in the 3rd quarter. This was attributed to weakening demand from the banking and financial services industry, which in general is having a tough time this year with weak markets and trading volumes. Interestingly, 56% of developers expect prices to remain unchanged while 37% predict a moderate decline. The percentage of developers expecting a decline more than doubled from 17% in the previous quarter. 4. Investors are going into industrial and commercial properties Jones Lang LaSalles study of URA Realis caveat data shows that investors

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

with a sub-$1.5 million budget are moving away from residential properties into commercial and retail properties. The private residential sectors share of caveats fell from 96.6% in 2nd quarter 2009 to 87.2% in 3rd quarter 2011. Investors have both been driven by push (government measures to cool the residential market including the harsh stamp duty) and pull (higher yields for these properties) factors. In particular, small industrial units with low prices and PROMISES of higher yields are very popular with investors. Have they thought about what the real rental demand is going to be once these units are completed? What sort of businesses will be renting them?

My take on what these trends mean All in all I believe that these trends are worrying. Middle income families are rushing to buy high-priced HDB flats and mass market residential properties and small-time investors are snapping up shoebox industrial units with a fairly ambiguous rental market. At the same time the wealthy and developers (the insiders) are turning cautious on the market, and the weakening global economic situation means that the yields of the industrial and commercial properties could be at risk. Which group do you think has a better grasp of what is going on in the market? I caution all investors to study the market carefully before committing your hard earned

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

I caution all investors to study the market carefully before committing your hard earned cash and credit to a property investment. Make sure you know what youre buying and if you are expecting a yield, to do your due diligence on what the real rental demand for your property will be. If youre buying for your own stay, dont just rush into the next new launch and be impressed by the designer showflats. If you spend a bit of time and effort looking around in the same area, you could find real bargains at 20% to 40% off the price of a new flat.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

Non-Landed Residential Resale Property Transactions for the Week of Oct 8 - 14

Postal District 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 8 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 Project Name ICON QUEENS EMERALD PARK EMERALD PARK CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY CARIBBEAN AT KEPPEL BAY HERITAGE VIEW BOTANNIA DOVER PARKVIEW DOVER PARKVIEW WESTCOVE CONDOMINIUM CITYLIGHTS CAIRNHILL CREST CAIRNHILL RESIDENCES MIRAGE TOWER CAIRNHILL HEIGHTS UE SQUARE ST MARTIN RESIDENCE THE ORANGE GROVE THE FORD @ HOLLAND MONTVIEW VALLEY PARK TANGLIN REGENCY Area (sqft) 581 1,184 1,173 1,163 1,206 1,485 1,163 1,281 1,249 1,249 1,119 1,356 818 1,163 1,496 1,281 1,572 592 2,691 614 1,507 1,808 980 Transacted Price ($) 1,080,000 1,300,000 1,280,000 1,208,000 1,928,000 2,060,000 1,270,000 1,388,000 1,150,000 1,150,000 930,000 1,740,000 1,750,000 2,360,890 2,330,000 1,750,000 2,050,000 1,360,000 5,800,000 1,100,000 2,320,780 2,500,000 1,260,000 Price Tenure ($ psf) 1,858 99 1,098 99 1,091 99 1,039 99 1,599 99 1,387 99 1,092 99 1,084 956 921 99 921 99 831 99 1,283 99 2,139 FH 2,031 FH 1,557 FH 1,366 FH 1,304 929 2,297 FH 2,155 FH 1,793 FH 1,540 FH 1,382 999 1,286 99 Postal District 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 13 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 Project Name RIDGEWOOD HILLCREST PARK THOMSON 800 AMANINDA HILLCREST ARCADIA TRELLIS TOWERS SUNVILLE THE SCENIC @ BRADDELL DAKOTA RESIDENCES SIMSVILLE ESCADA VIEW FUYUEN COURT CANBERLIN LODGE ONE AMBER THE SEA VIEW THE WATERSIDE SANCTUARY GREEN COSTA RHU THE MAKENA SANTA FE MANSIONS TANJONG RIA CONDOMINIUM FINLAND GARDENS MARTIA 8 Area (sqft) 1,744 1,152 1,625 2,842 1,711 1,647 1,755 452 1,830 969 775 1,163 1,152 1,389 1,216 2,400 786 1,970 1,636 1,163 1,302 1,722 1,259 Transacted Price ($) 1,950,000 1,500,000 1,980,000 2,900,000 1,547,500 1,780,000 1,420,000 590,000 2,425,000 852,000 677,700 880,000 800,000 2,055,720 1,740,000 3,224,000 1,000,000 2,255,650 1,850,000 1,300,000 1,400,000 1,780,000 1,280,000 Price Tenure ($ psf) 1,118 999 1,302 FH 1,218 FH 1,021 FH 904 99 1,081 FH 809 FH 1,305 FH 1,325 99 879 99 874 FH 757 FH 695 FH 1,480 FH 1,431 FH 1,343 FH 1,273 99 1,145 99 1,131 FH 1,118 FH 1,075 99 1,034 FH 1,016 FH

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

Postal District 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 20 21 21 21 21 21 21 Area (sqft) 2,024 1,087 689 1,216 2,196 1,173 1,604 1,184 1,302 1,302 1,701 1,410 1,130 1,206 1,475 409 1,324 1,055 1,152 1,615 1,173 1,130 904 1,604 1,539 1,313 Transacted Price ($) 1,970,000 1,024,000 692,800 1,110,000 1,940,000 900,000 1,145,000 840,000 1,048,000 1,030,000 1,122,000 1,269,000 940,000 845,000 988,000 600,000 1,285,000 830,000 855,000 1,240,000 1,320,000 1,100,000 845,000 1,480,000 1,400,000 1,090,000 Price Tenure ($ psf) 973 FH 942 FH 1,006 FH 913 99 883 99 767 99 714 99 709 99 805 999 791 999 660 FH 900 99 832 99 701 99 670 99 1,467 999 971 99 787 99 742 99 768 99 1,125 99 973 999 935 FH 923 FH 910 999 830 99

Project Name PARK EAST ONE @ PULASAN THE DAFFODIL EAST MEADOWS BAYSHORE PARK TANAMERA CREST TANAMERA CREST TANAMERA CREST WATERCREST WATERCREST BALLOTA PARK CONDOMINIUM MODENA EASTPOINT GREEN MELVILLE PARK MELVILLE PARK GLASGOW RESIDENCE COMPASS HEIGHTS RIO VISTA REGENTVILLE LAKEVIEW ESTATE GARDENVISTA SPRINGDALE CONDOMINIUM SHERWOOD CONDOMINIUM SUMMERHILL SOUTHAVEN II SOUTHAVEN I

Postal District 22 22 22 23 23 23 23 26

Project Name THE LAKESHORE PARC OASIS LAKESIDE APARTMENTS THE MADEIRA REGENT HEIGHTS REGENT GROVE THE MADEIRA SEASONS PARK

Area (sqft) 872 1,227 1,518 1,249 1,163 1,163 3,046 1,690

Transacted Price Tenure Price ($) ($ psf) 840,000 963 99 940,000 766 99 835,000 550 99 1,000,000 801 99 870,000 748 99 805,888 693 99 1,880,000 617 99 1,138,000 673 99

NOTE: This data only covers non-landed residential resale property transactions with caveats lodged with the Singapore Land Authority. Typically, caveats are lodged at least 2-3 weeks after a purchaser signs an OTP, hence the lagged nature of the data.

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SINGAPORE PROPERTY WEEKLY Issue 23

Singapore Property Classifieds #13

For Sale
Bliss Residences @ Kembangan. FH 1500+sf 3+1BR Penthouse. Only $1000psf. 1 min to MRT, 15 min to CBD. Rooftop pool and BBQ. TK Tan 98206228.

For Rent Summerhill Condo, 3BR. Beautifully furnished. New furniture, appliances, 42" TV & electric piano. Don't miss, contact Andrew Chee 82887632
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